A friend and I are going to Italy the middle<BR>of October. I am meeting her in London (she will be there for work) and then we are going to go to Italy from Saturday to the following Sunday. Here are a few questions we have...<BR>1. What is the best way to get to Italy from <BR>London? The train or by plane.<BR>2. We know we want to go to Florence for sure<BR>and maybe a few days in Rome. The third place is up in the air. We have heard that Assisi is beautiful as well as Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast. We want to do as little traveling as possible to maximize the trip.<BR>3. How many days would you recommend in each place?<BR>4. Any recommendations on places to stay? We<BR>don't want to break the bank but also want to stay someplace clean and safe. We are really looking for a place to lay our heads without a lot of frills.<BR><BR>Any and all advice are appreciated! <BR>Thanks!

Cathy, here's some answers:<BR><BR>1) Fly from London to Florence or Rome. Lot's of options with flights, not terribly expensive and you'll be there in a couple of hours.<BR><BR>2) Base yourself in central Tuscany and you'll be able to easily visit both Rome and Florence (they're 280knm apart by Autostrada) about 2-3 hrs by car max.<BR><BR>Lake Como is beautiful in October, but a bit far north to visit this trip. Save it for your next trip and fly in/out of Milan.<BR><BR>3) By staying in one central place, you can visit anywhere for as long as you want, return or move on. <BR><BR>4) Check out the many Tuscany trip reports here for many places to stay. You'll see recommendations that you can then check on your own. You can also visit www.tuscany.net and other sites you'll see posted for lots of info on specific properties.<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!

We travelled from London to Italy and back to London to catch our flight back to the US in Aug. 2001. Ryanair out of Stansted airport worked perfectly for us, though it is not the only option. Our flight (about 1 1/2 hours) to Ancona was about $72 and flight from Ancona was about $42. Go figure. Those fares constantly change & you just have to monitor. If, for example, you flew into Ancona, you could see a bit of this Adriatic port area & then take the train to Rome (about a 3 hour beautiful ride), with a stop in Assisi along the way. I think the stop is Foligno and then it is about 18 km to Assisi, but perhaps someone else here could confirm. OR, you could take the train from Ancona (via Bologna) and go directly to Florence instead. It is then another easy train ride from Florence to Rome when you are ready, and then the Amalfi coast. There are so many options available to you. Flying into Milan (Como area), then taking the train down to Florence, and then to Rome & on to the Amalfi Coast is another itinerary. Where you fly in & out will determine how best to go where you want to go & minimize time in transit. Have fun!

Not seeing Venice would be a tragedy.

British Airways flies into Pisa --- a great little airport and convenient to train station. It's an easy hop, skip <BR>& jump over to Florence. I'd stay there for a 2 or 3 days and then train down to Rome. Florence-Rome route is an easy 1.5 hr trip on Eurostar. Must give Rome at minimum of 3 full days; 4 or 5 are even better. And for some beauty and relaxation, I'd opt to head south to Amalfi Coast. To avoid backtracking, I'd look into flying out of Naples back to London.<BR>

We did a one week trip last October and stayed in Montepulciano. I would suggest staying in one location and taking daytrips. We spent (2) days in Florence, (1) in Siene & San G, (2) getting lost in the Tuscan hills and (2) in Rome. Getting to both Florence and Rome were easy drives on Autostrada A1.<BR><BR>Trying to see/do all corners of Italy in one week (Lake Como and Venice) isn't a great idea, especially if you want to do as little traveling as possible and maximize the trip.